Pentagon lost contact with Army helicopter on flight that caused jets to nix landings at DCA

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Pentagon lost contact with Army helicopter on flight that caused jets to nix landings at DCA

By The Associated Press
Published May 23, 2025 at 11:00PM


This image provided by the U.S. Army shows a screenshot of data from the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast, or ADS-B, of the flight path of Army Black Hawk "PAT23" on a May 1, 2025, flight that led to air traffic controllers aborting the landings of two commercial jets. (U.S. Army via AP)

By TARA COPP Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter for about 20 seconds as it neared the Pentagon on the flight that caused two commercial jets to abort their landings this month at a Washington airport, the Army told The Associated Press on Friday.

The aborted landings on May 1 added to general unease about continued close calls between government helicopters and commercial airplanes near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people.

In March, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that helicopters would be permanently restricted from flying on the same route where the collision occurred. After the May 1 incident, the Army paused all flights into and out of the Pentagon as it works with the FAA to address safety issues.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the head of Army aviation, told the AP in an exclusive interview that the controllers lost contact with the Black Hawk because a temporary control tower antenna was not set up in a location where it would be able to maintain contact with the helicopter as it flew low and rounded the Pentagon to land. He said the antenna was set up during construction of a new control tower and has now been moved to the roof of the Pentagon.

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